was turned into a killing field by the d.c. sniper's ten years ago. >> scary? scary times. it was a senseless and tragic time with so many innocent people dying. >> lori ann lewis rivera was vacuuming when she was shot and killed. >> i didn't want to go outside. you were afraid to walk from your office to your car. >> the crisp and juicy restaurant was doing a brisk business today. ten years ago, a bullet hole in the window was reminder that a 34-year-old housekeepehad been shot and killed right here. >> it was a code red or code blue. >> sarah ramos was sitting on a bench reading a book. >> a will lot of parents, reminding me of 9/11, everyone was afraid of letting their children get on the bus. >> another shooting happened at this gas station on aspen hill road and connecticut avenue. prem, a husband and father of

two was killed. >> this was mobile gas station at the time. it was just after 8:00 in the morning. the 54-year-old part-time cab driver was shot and killed as he was gassing up for this very pump, like the other victim. he was hit with a single shot. >> it's been a long time. i mean,. >> friends say the 33-year-old andrew looked exactly like his dad. ten years after his murder and the family and the entire washington area still can't make sense of the slain. >> no, you can't. you can't forgive what happened. you can't even forget. you lost loved ones. >> bruce johnson, 9news now. >> other two victims, james, sonny buchanan, killed while cutting grass. and pascal killed near the montgomery county line. as for the gunman, executed back in 2009. leboyd is behind bars. he's serving a life sentence

with no possibility of parole. right now, you are looking live at i-270 where the southbound lanes near 270 and germantown road are shut down. that's where montgomery county police officer was hit late this evening. that officer stepped out of his cruiser trying to investigate another accident when he was hit. we are told he wasn't badly hurt. if you are expecting somebody to get home who goes that way, you should expect some delays. four groping incidents in the last week have students at the american university on alert tonight. they happened along massachusetts avenue between the university campus and birkshire avenue. all are female victims. jenna's roommate was one of them. the area where her roommate was attacked can get really dark. >> definitely late at night, there's less lights, so in that sense, it is more excluded for people to jump out at you. >> a white male between 20 and 30 years old and 5'7" and

5'10". mitt romney and president barack obama now cramming for tomorrow's first presidential debate in denver. the polls show most americans believe the president will win the first debate, but historically, it's the challenger who usually gets a boost. >> less important than what they say is how they appear, do they treat their rival with respect? do they connect with the audience? do they respond at the moment when they have to react? >> how do they look? how do they seem? >> tomorrow's debate focuses on the economy and the second half will address national concerns. and this is your no bull zone. we are teaming up with our sister paper, u.s.a. today, to bring you the facts in tomorrow night's debate. we will be fact checking what the candidates are saying we'll also have live screenings on our website. and watch 9news at 11:00 for

the most comprehensive coverage you'll get. >> if you are not being anowed from all those political signs that use to clog the virginia highways, there's a reason for that. they're not the anymore. lawmakers got rid of the exception with which to allow political signs along fairfax county highways. now no signs, not even political ones, are allowed along public roads. most of them seem to be following the law. too many political signs. you get annoyed. >> it looks like a lot of chaos. >> they can cause sight distance problems, they are not safe, and it's costly to clean them up. >> springfield supervisor says he is hoping that fairfax county can reach an agreement that will allow the county to enforce the law. the fine, $100. voters in pennsylvania will not need their photo id to cast a ballot. at least not this november. a judge blocked the law from going into effect on election day. opponents of the law say it

would have unfairly prevented the elderly and minorities from voting. state officials have the option of appealing through the supreme court of the state. well early voting now underway in ohio. it's the key battleground state in the election. last year, 30% of ohio voters cast their ballots before election day. >> gray, gloomy, and rainy. at least that's how the day was earlier. now the rain has gone away. topper is out on the weather terrace. we wonder, will it be back overnight? >> run the risk of a couple showers and storms. but actually, that's the good news because that warm front will put us into a better place tomorrow. let's start with the radar. most of the showers and storms are well south and east of us and also just north of richmond. we'll zoom in a little bit. we had a couple early thunderstorms, leanardtown, southern st. mary's county, calvert county. that is gone. all we are left with is drizzle and some fog. temperatures are nice. in fact, this is as warm as it has been downtown.

72. 68 in gaithersburg and 66 also in manassas. for tonight, mostly cloudy, mild, shower. we'll have fog. low temperatures in the 60s. that fog could be a problem for the morning commute. we'll come back and talk about that and also talk about a touch of summer heading our way. >> sounds good, thank you, sir. does dan schneider want that big casino at the national harbor? you can bet on it. they come out in support of question 7 on the november ballot in maryland. if passed, question seven would green light a new casino and okay vegas style table games in maryland's slot parlors. the redskins say as a member of the business community, the team is obligated to speak out in support of major economic development. seven people arrested tonight after a deadly collision. 38 people died monday night in what is being called ho kong's deadliest accident in more than 15 years. despite the arts, investigators aren't sure how the boats ran into each other on a clear

night and on one of the safest waterways. >> investigators in oregon trying to figure out how a farmer was eaten by his own hogs. this is gross. a family member found the 69- year-old dentures and parts of his body in the pen. some of those pigs, keep in mind, weigh more than 700 pounds. so far, detectives aren't sure whether this was some sort of horrible accident or perhaps something far more sinister. an alert tonight about a scam that uses the fbi to frighten computer users and then steal their money. as andrea mccarren reports, it does not ask for your personal information or a credit card number. >> all of a sudden, it says my computer is blocked by the fbi. >> peter walden sat down at his computer to check his e- mail and surprised by this full screen message listing alleged activities for which users are being blocked. >> maybe down loading illegal music or you are going to

pornographic materials. >> what raised his suspicion is that in order to unblock his computer, the screen required a $200 payment with a prepaid money card within the next 72 hours. >> if you don't, then you end up getting -- the fbi will open a file against you and you go to jail. >> walden is not easily taken by scams and he's a stick lar for details. if you look closely as he did, you'll see the fbi's name is missing the word oath. andrea mccarren, 9news now. >> the fbi knows all about this scam. it holds your computer hostage and demands a payment. an fbi spokeswoman told us, we would never ask americans for money, cyber criminals know that if they use the name of a law enforcement agency in their scheme, that may lead legitimacy to their appeals. still ahead, a d.c. writer wins half a million dollars in

a genius grant. you'll meet him in just a minute. plus, police are on the hunt for this woman who tries to take a manatee for a joyride. wonder how that worked out. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class.

i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪

students at a d.c. elementary school have 15,000 brand-new books all thanks to a generous donation. employees from the five companies dropped off the books in southeast this morning. that company donated more than a million dollars worth of books since 2007 in an effort to promote literacy. look, but please don't touch. police on the hunt for this woman who tried to ride a manatee. now this happened over the weekend right near tampa, florida. manatee joyrides are illegal in florida and a violation is a second-degree misdemeanor. a live look outside right now. gray, rainy mess. topper shutt will be along with a lock at your full forecast.

i will tell you this, it gets better. plus, big bucks for brilliance. we'll introduce you to a local writer who is $500,000 richer thanks to a prestigious award. krystal conwell : we see a lot of problems with the...

number of students that we have. resources. materials. things that the children need... on a day-to-day basis. anncr: question seven will help. the department of legislative services says question seven... will mean hundreds of millions of dollars... for schools...from gaming revenues that would have... gone to other states. and independent audits will guarantee the money... goes where it's supposed to. krystal conwell: i think people should vote for question... seven because i think it will be a great benefit to children.

you are watching your national league east champion washington nationals, or at least that was the stadium last night when they clinched it.

virtually phillies, the pittsburgh pirates knocking off the atlanta braves. meantime, they are playing tonight after they place that n.l. east title. and apparently that game is going to go on as scheduled, even though there was rain earlier. the first post season game will be on saturday or sunday against a yet to be determined team. a d.c. man, a well deserved half million bucks. this is part of the fellows program, otherwise known as a genius grant. in fact, 23 people received that award this year. washington writer is one of them. i want to thank you for joining us. i want to say congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> you were in irobe when you got the call? >> i was there during the literacy festival to encourage people to start reading and writing and i was getting ready for a press conference. and i didn't know who was on the other line, but i felt i had to pick it up and there it

was. >> did you believe it? >> i believed it, but i was afraid to admit to myself that up until yesterday. >> you had to stay quiet for a couple of weeks because it wasn't announced publicly for a couple of weeks. >> perhaps you invented it in your head and you know that's not the case. you get this anxiety in the back of your mind. >> you won this award for your novels, which draw heavily from your background and stay here. in fact, one of the books called the beautiful things that heaven bares and it talks about a refugee who runs a grocery store. talk about that just for a minute and how autobiographical is that? >> that's the first novel i wrote. i wrote it after i moved out. still clinically depressed and left a big impression on my imagination and my family's background. knowing what happened when i was a child and what forced us to come here. that became part of the novel. >> these kind of things,

important work. this isn't 50 shades of gray here. but now you are starting to get more attention because of this grant. what has that been like for you? >> that's the greatest thing. validates what we do. what we do is important, even if we aren't selling fifty shades of gray numbers. >> what will you do with that $500,000? >> there's a lot of things i would like to do. i would like to keep writing. tell stories. i would like to go back to africa to encourage people to read any book in general. >> that's an important point. you were spending time in africa getting publishings going there. what did you have in mind? >> that's what happened when the phone call came. i was meeting with friends of small publishing companies and how we need to have a system of publishing. how these stories need to be public in other countries, other than waiting for people

like me. >> thank you for being here. congratulations on your award and keep doing the good work. >> thank you. let's take a welcome at the weather forecast with top. >> those people don't call me, derek. no, they don't call me. here's a live look outside to our michael and son weather cam. you can see. visibility is not going be a great thing tonight. right now, 72. that's as high as it has been all day. very humid, very muggy. bad hair day. winds out of the north at 6. because of the fog, remember to use your low beams tonight and keep more distance between you and the car in front of you. it will affect the early morning commute tomorrow. here's the warm front across the bay into the delmarva. this warm front is going to roll through tonight. the showers and storms along the front into southern maryland headed for the northern neck. we're going to see the chance of a shower or thunderstorm later tonight as it lifts northward. we see a couple showers south of st. mary's city.

that is generally light activity. so, warming up. at's the good news. a shower or thunderstorm still possible tonight. fog develops overnight. warmer on wednesday. and a very, very nice finish to the week. a little more like september than october. for tonight, mostly cloudy, mild, shower or storm possible. low temperatures in the 60s. winds will become southwesterly at 10. by morning, now it may take all morning, but skies will become partly sunny and warm. fog in the morning, 60s and 70s. winds southwest at 10. the payoff will be the afternoon. partly sunny and warmer. yes, a shower or storm still possible. high temperatures around 85 and winds out of the south at 10 to 15 with a warm front goes through, you'll notice the pick up. warmer everywhere. 68 in oakland. 80 in hagerstown. 81 in winchester. warmest spot, 86 in culpeper. 84 in warrenton, manassas, leesburg, maybe 85 in fairfax.

85 downtown. 83 by the water for annapolis. and we're looking at 85 up in gaithersburg. right now, no small craft advisories for the bay or title potomac. that may change tomorrow afternoon. code green, warmer tomorrow, isolated storm possible. 85. 84 on thursday. just great. and fantastic on friday. mostly sunny, temperatures in the low 80s. now the weekend, temperatures go down. still mild on saturday for the terps game. for family weekend at university of maryland. showers possible before the game is over. better chance of showers at night and cooler. we're in the 60s sunday, monday, and tuesday, and some of those showers may bleed into the game. >> yes, they will. >> we lost seven in a row? >> that's weird. >> let's hope they can pick that up. >> let's talk about the weird news, because as topper, you know this. without the world records, there would be less than half of the weird news that we have most of the time.

let's go straight to india. how about this choice for weird news. bash your head repeatedly with coconuts. >> really? >> yeah, that's what this guy is doing right here. bashing his head with coconuts. apparently it hurts, but not as much as not having the world record for bashing open coconuts with your head. so he goes at it, he wants to do a record and he did it 18 times. 18 coconuts bashed open, which was more than enough to establish a record since no one had bothered to try this. >> he was dizzy and fell down. >> he didn't survive. >> no, he did. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back. too many americans are struggling to find work

in today's economy. too many of those who are working are living paycheck to paycheck

trying to make falling incomes meet rising prices for food and gas. more americans are living in poverty than when president obama took office and fifteen million more are on food stamps. president obama and i both care about poor and middle-class families. the difference is my policies will make things better for them. we shouldn't measure compassion by how many people are on welfare. we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good paying job. my plan will create twelve million new jobs over the next four years helping lift families out of poverty and strengthening the middle-class. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message because we can't afford another four years like the last four years. ♪ in the mail bag tonight, the case of the tiny dog

stabbed seven times by its owner in what some called a domestic abuse attack. the facebook page is overflowing with your comments. how can anyone hurt an animal? if the owner does that to a pet, i don't want to know what they could do to a human being. and that was the general sentiment just listen to julie. what a precious little baby. i don't understand the depiction part. lock this person up and throw away the key. hurting innocent animals is the key. erica jacobs calls the situation heartbreaking. animals can't defend themselves. cocoa loved and trusted her owner. i wish the owner did this to a bigger dog who could have fought back and destroyed the own r for thinking about coming at them with a knife. dozens weighed in with various levels of outrage. certainly appropriate, but as always, i marvel how worked up when a beloved pet is injured, but if this story featured a human being stabbed several

times, perhaps only a few of you would have been moved enough to write anything at all. that's something worthying about, even perhaps writing about. our e-mail is mailbag@wusa9.com. that is our report. i'll be back at 11:00 along with with anita and topper. we'll see you a bit later. bye bye.

>> "entertainment tonight." the worldwide leader in entertainment news. >> maria shriver facing photographers today. the knew video as arnold continues airing his dirty laundry in new york. is he eyes a senate run? >> and what an unauthorized biographer is saying about his affairs. >> and it happy days joannie homeless? what we know about the intoxication reports. was she kicked out of a trailer park? >> and the 911 call. >> there is a man who just jumped off the bridge into the ocean. what the dramatic audio reveals about his final moments. >> and justin bieber's s